Velvet Rope
by xhappily-randomx
Summary: “I love you,” he told her. “That’s not funny Ikuto,” Amu responded. “You don’t believe me,” Ikuto sighed. “Why?” “Because you lie. You tease, you lie, and you make fun of me. I’m not falling for your tricks anymore." Amuto one-shot!


**Umm.... I wrote another Amuto One-shot. I dunno where I got the inspiration... I just wrote it... somehow. XD**

**Anyways, Hopefully it's okay and you'll like it! :P**

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_I don't have very many people I care about in my life. I mean, who is there really? My evil stepfather? My father who abandoned us? My mother who betrayed us? The guardians who hate me? All of my good friends at Easter? No. They don't care for me, and I don't care for them either. _

_The only people I truly care about are my sister Utau (despite how annoying she can be sometimes), and, of course, Amu. They both care about me too, although Amu denies it._

_We have a weird relationship, Amu and I. It's like there's a velvet rope dividing us, separating us, keeping us apart. I love Amu, and I know she at least likes me, if it isn't love for her as well. But, no matter how much I love her, I can't get close to her._

_It's like in a museum, where they rope off areas the exhibits with a velvet rope, the rope that you can't cross. You can look over the rope and see what's there, watch it, even talk about it, but you can't touch it. Crossing the rope was taboo, forbidden even as a thought._

_I was on one side of the rope, and Amu was on the other. We could see each other, but we could never get close enough to touch. Sometimes I'd walk a little closer to the border; sometimes I'd even touch the rope. It was always so soft and smooth, and I yearned to cross it, to unhook the rope._

_I often thought of unhooking it, taking it down. I'd try to get closer to Amu, but then something always prevented it from happening. Usually I'd end up passing it off as a joke or teasing though, and we'd end up right back where we started._

_I know what you're thinking, that this whole thing is my fault, but it's really not. Amu does the same thing. She won't take down the rope either. She's afraid to admit she likes me. How could the good girl, the heroine, fall in love with the enemy? What would her friends think of her then? What would she think of herself? So she won't take down the rope either._

_The few times when I do tell Amu the truth about something, she always takes it that I'm lying or teasing her. I guess I do deserve it; I do tease her a lot. Teasing is the only way I can show her how much I care for her though. I just wish she'd realize that. It would make everything a whole lot simpler._

_I wish we could stop going around in circles, stop doing our little dance. I want to tell her the truth, that I love her. I want to take a step over the rope and truly be with her. But, I'm not brave enough to do that yet. And so our lives remain divided._

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"I love you," he told her.

"That's not funny Ikuto," Amu responded.

They were standing in Amu's bedroom as the older boy 'confessed' to her. Ikuto's forehead was pressed against hers, causing her to blush. His deep blue eyes stared deeply into her golden ones. She hastily pushed him away, and turned around so that he wouldn't see her blush anymore.

"You don't believe me." Ikuto sighed.

It sounded more like a statement than a question, but Amu answered him anyways, "No, I don't believe you."

"Why?" he wondered aloud.

"Because you lie. You tease, you lie, and you make fun of me. I'm not falling for your tricks anymore, I've known you for too long now," Amu affirmed.

"You don't think I could be telling the truth this time?" Ikuto frowned. He seemed displeased at her answer.

"No," she deadpanned.

Ikuto exhaled agitatedly and ran his hands absently through his hair. "Then I guess I'm leaving," he mumbled.

"What? Why? You just got here," Amu said. She felt disappointment at him suddenly leaving and brushing her off for no reason.

"Why should I stay when apparently you can't believe anything I say?" Ikuto leaned down to her level to ask her.

"Um..." she couldn't think of a good answer to his question. She finally settled for "Because I want you here?"

Ikuto seemed to debate his options for a moment. "You'll have to do better than that," he purred into her ear. He smirked when he saw the blush decorating her cheeks again.

Amu knew what he wanted. Usually she'd never do it; she only ever did in emergencies. However, desperate times called for desperate measures, and she really wanted to know why he'd seemed so agitated a few seconds ago.

Amu wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled herself close to him. "_Please_, Ikuto-kun!" Amu murmured as she looked up at him with a tiny pout on her face.

Ikuto grinned devilishly, "Sure, I'll stay." He titled his head down to her ear and whispered, "And all you had to do was ask nicely."

His breath tickled her ear, sending a shiver down her spine. She tried to push him away, only to be pulled back into his embrace.

"No, stay like this," Ikuto begged her.

"Fine, but only for a little while," Amu agreed reluctantly.

"What are you doing?" she squeaked out after Ikuto had pulled her tighter against his chest.

"If it's only for a little while, then I want to be closer," he mumbled. Amu didn't respond; she didn't know what to say.

Ikuto yawned and nuzzled into her neck. "This is comfy, it's making me sleepy. Can I sleep here tonight?" Ikuto asked.

"No," Amu answered.

"You let me do it once before," he protested.

"That was different, you were sick," she explained. He really was sick that time. She had checked to make sure before she agreed, because it sounded a lot like him to make up that kind of excuse. "I'd let any boy who was sick spend a night here."

Ikuto loosened his grip to scowl at her. "You better not," he contended.

"Fine, sure," she replied absently.

"So I can spend the night?" Ikuto asked her again.

"_No_," Amu repeated.

"But all I want to do is spend one night with someone as pretty as you," Ikuto said in dismay.

Amu's cheeks turned dark red and she stuttered incoherently until Ikuto laughed at her. "See, this is why I never believe you!" she shouted angrily.

"I'm not the only one who messes things up," Ikuto proclaimed.

"_Excuse me_?" Amu exploded.

"You know I'm telling the truth, you just won't accept it," he accused her.

"And why would I do that?" Amu demanded through clenched teeth. He was really annoying her now. Why did he have to say everything so calmly as well?

"Because the all around good heroine can't face the fact that she's fallen for the enemy," Ikuto smirked at her as if he had everything already figured out in his head.

"That's not true," Amu denied as she started to shake with anger. She wasn't exactly sure why she was so angry, but she was.

"What would her family think of their little girl dating an older boy? What would her friends say? I've heard that dating the enemy isn't the _best _way to cement a lasting friendship. The perfect Hinamori Amu's image would be ruined, ne?" he continued.

Her eyes stung with unshed tears of anger. "Stop it," Amu demanded.

"And worst of all, what would she think of _herself_. How could she let herself fall in the love with the bad guy, the one guy she could never have?" Ikuto whispered softly in his ear. He stepped back from her. It was probably a good idea, she felt about ready to hit someone, namely him.

A tear snaked its way down her cheek, and she wiped it away furiously. What a horrible thing to say. What a horrible thing to hear. And the worst part of it was that it was all true. She'd denied herself the right to feel those things, she'd cut herself off from that emotion.

It made her so irritated that he'd figured everything out as he stood in front of her with a look of triumph on his face. It wasn't a happy triumph though, more like if you know that you're right, even if you didn't want to be.

She raised her hand to slap him across the face, but he caught it and intertwined his hand in hers. Ikuto quickly pulled her forwards and pressed his lips against hers. Amu's mouth moved against his before she even realized what was happening. It was too late to stop though; the rope around her heart had already been ripped down.

She felt all the emotion's she'd bottled up for so long come flooding back. The tears poured down Amu's cheeks as she kissed him. Amu clung tightly onto Ikuto, not planning on letting go anytime soon.

Now that something had happened between the two of them, Amu was surprised to find herself needier than he was. When Ikuto ended the first kiss she quickly grabbed his shirt collar and pulled him back down again. He probably liked having her cling onto him though.

After a while Amu was completely out of breath and sank submissively into his arms. Her eyes had already dried, and she felt a little calmer.

"I guess I finally stepped over the rope, huh?" Ikuto murmured to himself. Amu felt too tired to ask what he was talking about.

"You're right, this is comfy," Amu mumbled drowsily.

"See? I can tell the truth sometimes," Ikuto teased as he wove his hand comfortingly through her hair.

"Yeah, I guess you can," Amu admitted. She rested her head against his chest, and closed her eyes to slip into a soft dream-like state.

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**Well, that was pretty short, eh? But enjoyable...? Maybe...? :P**

**Thanks for reading! Please review! ^-^**

**3Happily-random!**


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